The first day of classes is August 20, and several events have been planned for new and returning students. Sixty freshmen and about 30 transfer students will join us from from all over the country and across the globe this year. Check the Student Success Center's Our Programs page on IAIA's website that lists the orientation policy, the new student orientation and the certificate and transfer student orientation.

We welcome all new and returning students as the Institute continues its 50-year anniversary celebration. The August 15 annual benefit dinner and gala includes the 50th theme. A 50th commemoration is also being planned for October 13. Please continue checking www.iaia.edu for celebration updates. And if you haven't checked out the 50th anniversary timeline detailing the Institute's milestones, please do so today.

In 1972, a former Museum of New Mexico employee took a job at the IAIA campus at its former home, the present grounds of the Santa Fe Indian School, and opened the first exhibit. With the help of IAIA student volunteers, Chuck Dailey organized student work and various beadwork, jewelry, paintings, pottery and sculptures for the inaugural exhibition, Earth Colors.

Since then, the IAIA Museum, now known as the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, has become one of the country's leading museums for exhibiting, collecting and interpreting the most progressive work of contemporary Native artists. After a move to historic downtown Santa Fe in 1992 and an extensive 13-year renovation, the museum is now a venue for exhibitions of artists who merit local, national and international recognition. Nearly 7,500 works of art have been collected from alumni, present students, faculty, staff and other artists for its permanent collections.

Please join the museum as it celebrates 40 years August 17. Several events have been planned, including three exhibition openings, a fashion show and live art during the same week the Santa Fe Native market. Click here for a listing of events.

The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Store and the Lloyd Kiva New Gallery present T.C. Cannon Pops at MoCNA: Pai-doung-u-day August 16 - September 17. The event is an exhibition and estate sale of the works of IAIA alumni T.C. Cannon (Kiowa/Caddo).

An opening reception for the event will be at 5 p.m. August 16. Discussions about T.C. Cannon are also scheduled during the Santa Fe Native market weekend at 1 p.m. August 18, and book signings by authors who have written a bibliography or collected poetry from the late artist are scheduled for 3 p.m. August 18.

Hayes Lewis

center for lifelong education director returns home

After serving as director of IAIA's Center for Lifelong Learning for the past seven years, Hayes Lewis (Zuni Pueblo) will return to home to serve as superintendent of the Zuni Public School District.

Lewis was instrumental in the acquisition of funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, and the state of New Mexico, which allowed for the construction of the CLE building. Lewis built relationships and partnerships with tribal and indigenous people throughout the Southwest, the United States, and the world. He provided valuable opportunities for outreach, education, and programming in areas of K-12 education policy reform, suicide prevention, issues in health and wellness, and tribal governance.

He has also served the Institute as an adjunct professor in the Indigenous Liberal Studies Department. Lewis' leadership and commitment in all facets of education have now led him to the decision to return to Zuni Pueblo to accept the offer of school district superintendent where he served 11 years prior to IAIA. We value his contributions to Indian education, to IAIA, and to the CLE, and wish him the very best in the future. A search for his replacement has begun.

IAIA staff in Barrow, Alaska

student success pilot program

A mentoring program between IAIA and Ilisagvik College in Barrow, Alaska, is helping the arctic school improve student services. Ilsagvik and IAIA are part of a two-year Walmart Foundation grant aimed at improving retention and graduation rates in minority students. Ilsagvik and IAIA's other mentee, Sitting Bull College in Ft. Yates, N.D., and three other tribal colleges part of the Walmart Student Success Collaborative grant attended strategy, technical assistance and guidance workshops at IAIA this summer and toured IAIA's Student Success Center.

Ilsagvik College Student Life Manager and Walmart Grant team member said in

The Arctic Sounder, "It was incredibly beneficial to visit the Student Success Center at the Institute and get an overview of their service delivery." Ilsagvik hopes to also integrate student support efforts across all areas of campus to better help students through the challenges of college.

IAIA will host other schools, including Hispanic and historically Black institutions, for the Walmart Student Success Collaborative at IAIA December 13-14.

Valerie Nye

new librarian

IAIA has hired Valerie Nye as the new library director. She replaces Sarah Kostelecky, who had been with IAIA since July 2007. Kostelecky left in December 2011 to take the job of access services librarian at the University of New Mexico.

Nye recently served as the library director at Santa Fe University of Art & Design. She has also held library positions locally at the College of Santa Fe, the New Mexico State Library, and the New Mexico State Archives and Records Center.

Nye currently serves as the secretary and grant liaison on the New Mexico Library Foundation board, a non-profit organization that raises funds to provide grants to libraries in New Mexico. She has also coauthored four books. Her most recent is True Stories of Censorship Battles in America's Libraries, co-edited with Kathy Barco and published by the American Library Association in January. The book is a compilation of essays written by librarians who have experienced challenges to remove material held in their libraries' collections.

Nye grew up in Albuquerque and has a B.A. in English literature with an emphasis in art from Cornell College and an MLIS in library science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Associated Student Government (ASG) will host Vital Strides III from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. August 19 during Indian Market weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. More than 30 items, including apparel, TOMS shoes, jewelry and paintings, will be available in the silent auction and annual live art event benefiting ASG activities.

IAIA's Music Club, as well as local Indigenous group from Jemez Pueblo, Walatowa Massive, will provide music. Bon Appétit, an award-winning college catering company that runs IAIA's cafeteria, will provide free snacks and beverages. Funds raised from the event will go toward a new multi-purpose field, and AGS's plans to make IAIA a more carbon neutral campus, among other activities.

Although many had the summer off, some students were busy cultivating their skills. Alli Moran, an Indigenous Liberal Studies (ILS) major, was one of two IAIA students who attended the 2012 American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) Summer Student Leadership Institute held July 18-21 at Sitting Bull College in Ft. Yates, N.D. Moran is also the 2012-13 AIHEC Student Congress president and was instrumental in planning the retreat. Bonita Rickers, an ILS and Studio Arts major and Associated Student Government president, also represented IAIA. The AIHEC leadership institute aids in training tribal college and universities student government leaders.

Rickers and two other IAIA Associated Student Government (ASG) leaders will also attend another training session, this time in Boston on August 3-4. Monica Gutierrez, ASG public relations officer, and Tamara Colaque, ASG secretary, and Rickers will attend the American Student Government Association Student Leadership Training. The ASGA is a national, professional association serving and supporting collegiate student government leasers and advisors with networking and resources. IAIA ASG Advisor Nocona Burgess will also attend.

general info

IAIA's mission is to empower creativity and leadership in Native arts and cultures through higher education, lifelong learning and outreach.